The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-06-01
POPULAR SCIENCE.

The velocity OF dylamc electr1clty OF
! the best possible conductor, suspended
in air so as to avoid all dielectric action,
is said to be 22s, 900 miles per second.
An English company has perfected its
arrangements for providing sick chambers
with telephones. The objects is to give
persons suffering from contagious dis
eases a chances TO talk. with their friends.
Speaking tubes are inadmissible on &C
count of the infectious nature of the
breath.
1t is stated that the specimens of clay
from the Royal Society's borings in the
Nile delta have not at present yielded any
but "derived" fossils; but beds of gravel
found at depth of 120 feet show that
higher, and was that Of an ordinary
river valley.
Some observations made in France ty
NJ. Cosson may throw light upon many
mysterious fires. In one instance spon-
taneous firing arose from an air current
heated to seventy-seven degrees Fahren.
heit only. The wood slowly carbonized
at that temperature, and, being thus
rendered extremely porous, rapid ab-
sorption of oxygenresulted, and sufficient
neat can then be produced to infame dry
material. In another case, the warmth
from the air hole of . stove was sufficient
to set fire to wood work.
Edison has notified his friends that his
experiments with his sea telephone in
Florida were quite successful. Already
| he can transmit sound between two ves-
sells from three to four miles distant from
each other, and is confident that be will
be able to increase the distance between
his stations as the apparatus becomes more
perfect. Up to tie present time MIR.
Edison has not succeeded in transmitting
articulate speech through his sea tele-
phone, nor is this essential to the success
| of the system. By means of submarine
] explosions he is enabled to form series
/ of short and long sounds in sequence,
and by these, as in the Morse system OF
telegraphy, words and sentences can
readily be transmitted.
Recent weather charts of the British
Meteorological Council show that during
the entire autumn permanent area OF
high barometer is situated in the mid
Atlantic south of the parallel of forty de-
grees. North of this, low-pressure tracks
are very frequent. Many of the storms
originate over the United States, and
they often gather force after starting on
their eastward course over the Atlantic,
sometimes even entirely crossing the
ocean. The vicinity of Newfoundland,
where hot and cold water meet, and there
are great differences in air-temperature in
very small area, has great influence
upon the weather cf the Atlantic and of
the British Islands. Here are formed
many storms, while some are here stopped
and suddenly broken up.
Volapuk, the new universal language
which is meeting with such favor in
Europe, is the result of twenty years OF
laborious research ON the part of its in
ventor, NJ. Schleyer, of Constance. Its
great merit lies in its simplicity, which
causes it to be very quickly learned, and
tc' be especially adapted to the needs Of
trade between nations. 1t has no artificial
genders, a single conjunction, and no
irregular verbs. The roots of its words
have been borrowed from all the langua-
ges of Europe. TIE adjective, verb and
adverb are regularly formed from the sub
stantive, and have invariably the same
termination. Volapuk grammars have now
been prepared in English, as we'll as in
most other important languages of the
globe.
Some years ago Professor Munk de-
scribed the condition of dogs from whose
brains certain cortical area had been re-
moved, and gave it the name of psychic
blindness" A dog in this condition can
see, for he avoids I'LL obstacles as we'll as
ever, but what he secs has lost ell mean
ing for him. If, Cor example, the dog
was accustomed to jump over rod when
it was held before aim, he no longer re-
cognizes this signal; his whole psychic
life is duller, and, in particular, the
world of sight has lost all significance.
This is now only one of large series of
phenomena which show that there is one
center in which an object is seen, and
another center in which it is perceived,
or, better apperceived. Disease may in
lure one and leave the other intact.